


On the Streets of Edinburgh.

by herstorybooks



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, But Only a Little Bit - Freeform, F/M, Reunion Fic, Scarlet Vision Exchange 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24479107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herstorybooks/pseuds/herstorybooks
Summary: My Entry for SVE2020 for the lovely Darthelwig, who just wanted to see Vision pining for Wanda. Hope you like it hun!
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: ScarletVision Fic Exchange 2020





	On the Streets of Edinburgh.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darthelwig](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darthelwig/gifts).



_ “it is uncertain as to the latest location of the rogue Avengers, but officials are asking for the public to contact the hotline number shown below if they see or have any information in regards to their whereabouts. The public is told to act with caution as these individuals may be armed and danger…”  _

Vision switched off the television. None of this felt right, listening to the world labeling his friends as something to be afraid of, something to fight and run from. Of accusing Wanda as anything but one of their allies and protectors. But the real pain came from knowing all of this was the consequence of his actions, his choices. By signing those accords, by standing on the opposite end of their battleground, Wanda was now on the run and away from the home, she had slowly begun to build. She wasn’t completely comfortable living in the compound, living without her brother. For so many weeks grief had consumed her. She lay under the same sheets day in and day out. She cried when it was dark, felt anger when it was light. But with time, with gentle care and understanding, she began to come out from her hiding place. She began to add pieces of her self to her room. Changing the bed covers from grey to purple, pinning up pictures of her family, and even taking pictures with new friends. Her shelves slowly filled with crystals and books, many recommended and read to her by Vision. She extended her wardrobe from the black dress she arrived in and even bought herself a guitar. But now, her room lay quiet and untouched. Said guitar was left in the corner, gathering dust as strings were now unplayed.  
With the dark black screen pouring his reflection back at him, his mind went over that night 

_He’d stayed back, out of sight, asking the captain not only for forgiveness but for him to leave his name out, when those saved had asked how he’d managed to set them free. It wasn’t difficult to find out where they were being held prisoner, or what the security codes were. Yes, Tony Stark was intelligent beyond understanding, but Vision was made of much more than human knowledge. Passing the codes to Captain Rodgers, he stood back and waited. He heard gunshots, fighting, and yelling. The commotion from inside was the sign that his friends had escaped free. Looking back he now wished he had left then and there. When the door swung open, one by one, the rogue Avengers ran out, jumping onto a second smaller ship and preparing to go on the run. He wished he had looked away. Seeing Wanda so pale, with eyes so dark and tired, burn marks around her neck and looking so fragile. He had done this. He had told her he would protect her, instead, he had done the opposite. She was now in need of being protected from him. He had suspected strength to provoke conflict, and for conflict to cause chaos, but he had never imagined his lack of strength would result in the chaos Wanda had endured._

_He followed them that night. He told himself it was to make sure they escaped safely, and that he could distract anyone’s attempt to stop them. But he knew they would make it out fine, he just wanted to know where Wanda was. Not to turn her in, or even to attempt to reconcile with her. Just to know. He followed as they sneaked onto a stolen quintet and dropped off those prepared to make a plea deal. In the end this left Cap, Sam, Natasha, and Wanda to fly off into the night in an attempt to find somewhere to hide. The jet landed in Scotland, followed by Natasha and Wanda jumping off and rushing into a car, parked and waiting for them. Steve and Sam stayed on the jet, finding somewhere to stash it before they too would coup up in a car and find somewhere to hide. Vision didn’t follow them any further. He knew roughly where Wanda was, and if he was ever going to truly help them, the little he knew the better. So he turned and went back to the compound. The next day when he returned, he sat in the common room, switched on the tv and regretted all of his decisions, all over again._

He hadn’t planned on going back. He knew it was only risking his friends even more. But when Tony went away for the week, the compound quiet and basically empty, the knowledge that no one would really notice his absence and the yearning just to know Wanda was alright, overtook his sensible nature. It had been a couple of months now and surprisingly much had changed, without much changing at all. There were still people on the lookout for the rogue Avengers, but after new crime threats and criminals with advanced technology, the search had begun to relax. Vision spent his time locked away in a lab or library, desperate to obtain as much information as possible and to achieve his goal. After some time he had in fact managed to manipulate his molecular structure not only in density but also in shape and color. 

He had experimented with clothing after realizing his battle suit did not match the style of his fellow Avengers. The cape might have been an article of clothing usual for those on Asgard, but on Earth, it only gave people another reason to stare at his alien and foreign appearance. He spent days and hours researching into the typical attire for a well mannered and respected gentleman, but with opinions conflicting and varying from one to another, it took much longer than expected to arrange an outfit, let alone a style. With the aid of Wanda, together they were able to transform his first effort of a bow tie and tailcoat to a shirt and v-neck sweater. Wanda assured him he looked smart but understated. 

“you clean up nicely.” Wanda’s voice has dripped with charm and slight teasing as he walked out of her bathroom, turning and twisty against the clothing’s material. He felt the heat rise and prickle his cheeks at the sense of Wanda’s stare settling and examining him. Throughout the days she would pick off pieces of fluff that clung to his sweater, or smooth down creases in his shirt. Casual movements as they existed alongside one another. 

This outfit had served Vision well for some time, but with his new facial and skin appearance, new clothing was required to truly transform. 

Opening the laptop (Wanda made him use instead of just scanning through the internet in his mind) he opened up a search engine ready to search for men's clothing stores. It had been months since he’d bothered to use this laptop, so when he looked up in the ‘bookmarks bar.’ His heart fluttered intensely when he saw the labeled folder. 

_‘if you ever fancy an upgrade.’_

He knew who had made the folder, opening the links and finding pages of clothing that he found very appealing, it could only have been Wanda. She always encouraged him to relax and wear something more casual, or “civilian” as she cheerfully joked. He found long-sleeved cotton tops, black trousers, and even a few pairs of loose navy jeans. Converse and lace-up shoes, scarfs, and long duffle coats. He ordered them all and took notes on the appearance of those modeling. They were all tanned and bulked arms with dark hair. He shifted his skin to match their build and color, it didn’t feel right. It didn’t fit. He shuffled and rolled his shoulders back before phasing his skin to match the color of Wanda’s, his build the same it had always been, and added blonde hair to the top of his head. He twisted and turned into the body he had created. It felt acceptable. 

Two days later when the clothing had been delivered, he slid the fabric onto his body, shifted his skin, and looked in the mirror. He heard it in his head, only because he yearned for it. 

“you clean up nicely.” Her velvet voice said. 

With his appearance blending into the rest of the crowd and no one currently monitoring his movements and whereabouts, he went to her. At first, he only stood in the town he had last seen her, pretending to drink coffee and read a book, all the time observing strangers as they walked passed. But he felt her presence brush past swiftly, drawing his attention to the two young ladies with their winter hats pulled down just above their eyes and scarfs pulled up to their noses. A strand of bright red hair peeked out from one of the woman’s hats, which he concluded was Miss Romanoff. And with the emotional pull he had to the dark-haired woman walking beside her, he knew she must be accompanied by Wanda. 

He waited until they turned around a corner on the road, before leaving the cafe and following their path. He kept his distance, he knew Natasha would be checking behind her every ten seconds, so he did his best to blend into the crowd. After ten minutes of walking and hiding, he watched as they entered an old building that looked like an abandoned building site. He watched them climb up ladders and tiptoe along with temporary flooring until they walked through the door marked _‘employees only.’_

Gone from his sight, and feeling the withdrawal from Wanda more than ever, he waited. He climbed to the top of the building opposite and just waited. He could sense her movement, her nervous and worried nature. It was two hours before the door opened again. It was Miss Romanoff who emerged first, but with much shorter hair and now blonde. He had no real opinion on the new hairstyle until Wanda followed her shortly. With beautiful auburn hair dangling against her shoulder. It contrasted beautifully against her pale creamy skin. But the bright locks were quickly covered with a black winter hat, as the two women left the building and went on to their next destination. He didn’t follow them. He didn’t have the time, but more importantly, he now felt more reassured. He knew Wanda and the others were taking measures to protect themselves, to stay hidden. So he watched as Wanda’s form disappeared into old buildings and strangers on the street. It began to rain, giving Vision his final cue, to return to the compound. 

The compound was dark, no presence of life accept the heated rooms and gentle snores. Vision prided himself on sneaking back in without being seen. He often felt underestimated by the other Avengers, as if he was only capable of doing the correct thing. But Wanda had brought out a new side to him, a mischievous side. With a gentle smirk on his face, he entered his room, closed the door, and switched on the light. 

“It seems someone has been out after curfew.” Vision turned to see Tony sitting in his chair, looking him up and down with the disapproval of a scolding father. 

“Mr Stark,” he phased his natural red appearance back into existence, hoping Wanda’s lessons in lying were about to kick in. “allow me to explain…” he began. 

“I think it’s best you don’t” Stark interrupted, standing up and walking towards Vision. “because, let’s say, hypothetically if I had learned that you snook out to visit a certain dark-haired red witch, I’d have to tell the authorities. But if I didn’t learn such a thing…” he looked at Vision with a smirk, waiting for him to complete his sentence, but was only met with a confused stare. “I would have nothing to report.” He concluded. Vision suddenly picked up on the message Tony was trying to communicate and nodded. 

“I believe I understand.” Vision said beginning to walk towards his bookshelf to pick out his reading for the night. 

“and if you were to say….” Tony began. “sneak out for a length of time. If I never found out, I would have no need to report that either.” Vision pulled out his book and began to get comfortable on the bed. 

“Yes, Mr. Stark. I understand.” Tony smiled proudly at Vision. 

Wanda left the corner shop with her plastic bags of canned food and comforting bars of chocolate paired with a single bottle of rose. The Streets of Edinburgh were busy as usual, bustling with people running about in the rain, rushing to their destination. Looking up at the grey sky and seeing the splashing of water on the pavement, she pulled her hat further onto her head and began her journey back to the tiny flat Nat had told her to stay at this month. It wasn’t the worst of the hideouts they’d been staying in since they went on the run, but it certainly wasn’t the best. There was no heating and small patterns of damp on the walls. Very creaky and scuffed floorboards along with furniture that had clearly been pulled out of a skip. At least it was a roof over her head and nowhere anyone would think to look for her. 

Walking down the street she continued to scan her surroundings, taking note of who was around her and when their paths would separate from hers. A tall blonde man walked around her to continue his journey at a quicker pace. An elderly woman shuffled behind her before turning the corner to the large Marks and Spencers. A mother and her teenage daughter arguing close by, a local man smoking and throwing his cigarette bud into the gutter. He gave her a look that made her uncomfortable as she passed him. Looking her up and down as if she was his next meal. She noted his form following behind her. Keeping the same distance from her no matter her speed. If she sped up, so did he. If she slowed down, so did he. He was definitely following her. She began taking odd turns and inconvenient long routes instead of the visually obvious shortcuts. She turned lefts then changed her mind and turned right. 

Eventually, she had shaken him off around the chip shop. Wanda smirked to herself, he was either too hungry to follow her any longer or was probably desperate for another smoke and took shelter from the rain, allowing her to escape. She sighed with relief before taking another look around her and figuring out how to get back on route home. She found her way to a side road she knew would eventually lead her to the street beside her apartment. Now on her new route, she continued to walk. But looking forward she saw the same blonde man who had overtaken her earlier. It was hardly a coincidence he had taken the same ridiculous route even she didn’t know she was going to take. So she stopped and hid in a side alley. Waiting to see if he would stop to relocate her, she peeked her head around the corner to see that the man was gone. She sighed in relief and stepped back onto the road, but was quickly in a collision with said man, now turning to attempt to follow her again. Wanda dropped her plastic bag and her bottle of wine smashed into pieces, pink liquid leaking onto the street. Looking up with red in her eyes Wanda shouted at the stranger. 

“Why are you following me?” She yelled! But then looking up at the man before her, it took no longer than a glimpse at his blue eyes, slowly phasing into turning cogs. But without the crimson skin and the added blonde hair, Wanda almost thought she was dreaming. “Visz?” 

“Wanda.” He replied with a gentle voice. Despite Wanda’s crazed and alert eyes, he remained warm and calm. “it’s so good to see you.” 

“What… what… are you doing here? Are you here for me?” 

“yes of course.” Wanda’s eyes flashed with worry. 

“What? How could…” she turned to run away but Vision’s hand held her back. 

“No! Not like that!” He reassured. “I’m just here to see you! I’m not here to turn you in.” Wanda turned back, slightly relaxing her shoulders but continuing to look at him cautiously. “I just wanted…” he sighed letting go of her hand and stepping back. “It doesn’t matter what I wanted. I’m sorry, I’ll go.” He turned to leave, making it out of the alley before Wanda called him back. 

“Vision,” he looked back at her with large rounded eyes. She smiled and took pity on him. “did you want to go somewhere and talk?” 

They sat by the window in a dirty local cafe. Vision felt out of place in his ironed shirt and leather shoes. Looking around, there was a chef in a white apron that was no longer white but stained with grease and sauce. It seemed every man was unshaven and carried dark circles under their eyes. Women carried the same dark eyes and haggard looks on their faces. Wanda sipped at her watery coffee, now use to the painfully weak taste. She looked at Vision shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “I know you’re not used to places like this.” She said smirking at him. “but places like this are necessary.” 

“because it’s far away from the compound?” He asked confused. 

“yes, but also…” she put down her cup and looked around her. “the people in this place, they don’t want to bring attention to themselves any more than us. They’ll never call the authorities if they catch on because it means alerting them to their whereabouts as well.” Vision nodded, fully understanding. Wanda looked at him, staring nervously down at his hands and fidgeting uncharacteristically. “What are you doing here, Visz?” He finally looked up shyly,

“I didn’t like how we ended things” he admitted. 

“no,” Wanda looked down sheepishly. “neither did I.” They were quiet for a while, sitting in awkward silence and not being able to look up at one another. Wanda looked out the window, watching the rain pour and settle on the glass. There were young and old couples walking hand in hand outside. Some laughing, some arguing, but all together. “why did you do it, Vizsh?” Vision looked back up, seeing the hurt and pain in her eyes. “you fought against me, let them take me.” Vision wanted to reach out and hold her hands, bring back some sort of connection to the two of them. 

“I didn’t know…” he whispered gently but sighed at the weakness of his excuse. “I didn’t want to know.” 

Wanda finally looked up to Vision, seeing the guilt pour out of his face, genuine even with his disguise. She smiled slightly, only just lifting the edges of her mouth. 

“you’re the one who gave Steve the security codes.” This brought Vision’s eyes to meet with hers. “how did you…”

“I didn’t, but I thought I saw you that night, flying off back to the compound.” Vision made that face, the one where his eyes seemed too blush instead of his cheeks. It made her stomach turn upside down the way it only did for him. She took pity, reaching out for his hand. When their skin collided, his face froze, almost in fear. “I need to get back and check in with Nat. Walk me home? Creepy guys keep trying to follow me.” 

They walked home in silence, not saying a word to one another, allowing the sound of the rain to fill in the gaps. Vision took note of the complex routes Wanda took to her abandoned apartment, not for his personal use, or to report back to Stark, but just so he knew how to find her if a dangerous situation occurred. They reached a wooden door, covered in police tape, warning civilians not to enter. When Wanda stopped and reached for a pair of keys, Vision assumed this must be her latest hideout. Wanda turned to him and smiled. “I’m putting a lot of trust in you, y’know. Nat would say I was being stupid.” Vision laughed. 

“I’m afraid I could easily agree with miss Romanoff, luckily my intentionswere only to see you happy and safe.” Wanda looked down at her feet before looking up. 

“Visz…” she began. They stared into one another eyes for a moment, unsure what to say or do. “will you come back,” she asked. “to see me I mean again, alone.”

“If you would accept me as your visitor? Then yes. I will always come back.” 

Wanda smiled and rolled her eyes, she never could get him to act less formal, but that was part of his charm.

They’d been separate for moths, and months of regret had built up. Time had been wasted, progress ruined and feelings are hidden. Put on hold because of other people's fear. Wanda was tired of being apart from the people she cared for, the people she loved. She always wondered if Vision truly understood what he meant to her. So she took hold of his coat collar and kissed him. A soft brush of lips against lips. She devoured the feeling and the way visions hands initially hovered awkwardly before planting themselves on her waist and his lips moving gently against her own. She pulled away after a moment. Looking at his shocked expression and the blush on his cheeks.

“come back for me Vision.” She whispered, before turning the door handle and disappearing from view. 


End file.
